My Laptop vs My iPad

Big corporate IT departments are constantly struggling to meet their end users needs.  In the good old days, business-class IT hardware was just too expensive for the individual. Sure, you could bring your personal laptop into the office but the gear that your employer provided was typically of higher quality so what was the point.  The IT departments “no corporate e-mail accounts on personal machines” policy wasn’t that big of a deal. We didn’t mind being told what we can use and how we could use it because there just weren’t that many choices.

But today, smart phones and iPads are changing things.  Particularly for a class of workers that I’ve heard  termed , “information consumers.” As the name implies, Information consumers tend to use more information than they create.  They  spend more of their time reading and responding to e-mail and using their tools to digest information created by other people instead of actually creating  content themselves.

Information consumers tend to be more mobile and traditionally they’ve used a laptop because of it. But it’s never been the perfect tool for the job. I spend a lot of time on the road visiting clients and prospective clients. As a result, I spend a lot of my “in between” time in coffee shops with Internet connections. In between time typically consists of a half-hour here 45 minuets there. I found that in between time is best used to log in and check e-mail and to catch up on phone calls. The brevity of my in-between time makes it difficult to get any other kind of work done.

A laptop is most certainly overkill for just checking your e-mail, but I’ve always found it difficult to do e-mail on a smart phone.   Like most people, my first smartphone  was a BlackBerry. I got pretty good at thumbing out two and three word e-mails, but composing and meaningful response to a client on a thumb pad was incredibly difficult for me.   I traded in my blackberry for an iPhone sometime ago and that certainly didn’t help to alleviate this issue.

As a result, I was always reaching into my bag for my laptop, turning it on, waiting, logging on to the wireless network, waiting, logging on to  the corporate network, waiting and then finally getting to access my e-mail. Depending on the speed and age of my laptop this exercise ranged from a few minutes to whole lot of minutes. It’s an incredibly frustrating process but I didn’t have a lot of options. That is, until now.

My iPad has a battery life of nearly 10 hours and so like my cell phone, it’s always on. I still have to wait a little bit to log onto the wireless network but it’s only a little bit. The big problem with the iPad is the integrated keyboard. It’s still difficult to pound out e-mail on the touchscreen. I solved that problem by purchasing a wireless keyboard that also serves as a protective case for the tablet.

I downloaded an app that allows me to create a remote desktop connection to my corporate resources. The app allows me to use the touchscreen to simulate a mouse cursor and it does an okay job, but again I really wouldn’t use this out to open up a word document and try to create a proposal or scope of work. There’s just not enough real estate on screen and the user interface is just too different for me. But I can certainly use it to login to Endsight business system to check on the status of the project or to reschedule a site visit.

I’m still heavily reliant on my laptop. In fact, I’m using it to compose this blog.  But my iPad has forever displaced it while I’m on the road. Quick access to my e-mail  while I’m mobile is just one of the things I like about my iPad. If you’re considering incorporating  a tablet into your computing environment and you like to hear more about my experience click here and let’s set up a time to talk in person.

What’s difference between Cloud Services and Managed Services?

Cloud computing is still a very buzzy notion and still very nebulous in it’s meaning.   As more  outsourced IT firms add cloud computing to their menu of offerings  I’ve noticed that a new term has emerged, “Cloud Services.”  I think this  will only further complicate an already confusing  buzz word bonanza that includes Software as a Service, Infrastructure as a Service, Hardware as a Service, Virtualization, Cloud Computing & Managed Services. 

I think that part of the confusion lies in the notion that each buzz word represents an all-inclusive technology solution for a small business.  Unfortunately, its not that easy.  Each term represents an approach to delivering technology and / or  technology support.  Since Cloud Services seems to be the new buzzword lets examine it  relative to  Managed Services.

What are Cloud Services?

To understand Cloud Services, first it’s important to have a rough definition of Cloud Computing.  Most simply, Cloud Computing is a computing architecture that allows a user to access a computer application (email for example) using the internet.  Google Apps and Microsoft 365 are examples of Cloud Computing for business productivity applications such as email, word processing, spread sheets and presentation.  For a more detailed definition of cloud computing click here.

The technology required to deliver Cloud Computing  is expensive.  Profitably operating a cloud requires lots  of customers.  Many local outsourced IT firms lack the scale to build and operate a cloud and so many of them do what they’ve always done,  resell some else’s product.   Most outsourced IT firms make the bulk for their money from professional services  and so they tack the word “ services” on to the word “cloud” and voilà, now  you have “cloud services.”

Cloud Services allow an outsourced IT provider to aggregate computing resources and allow a client to access those computing resources with out the hassle and expense of building, maintaining and upgrading servers.    But there’s a real risk the needs to be understood before choosing to leverage a resold cloud.  What happens if there is an outage?  How much control does the local firm have over the cloud resources it is re-selling?  I wrote a whole blog about Cloud Computing Risks.  You can click here to read it.  I also wrote one about leveraging resold services.  You can click here to read it.

Finally, while  cloud services allow a business to shift the hassle of buying, building, supporting and upgrading servers to someone else.  It neglects other parts of the computer network.   PC’s, laptops, handhelds, tablets, routers, switches, printers, internet connections and firewalls all remain and all need to be supported.

What are Managed Services?

Managed Services  by comparison are about the people needed to run a computing environment.  Leveraging remote monitoring and remote support technology, an outsourced IT provider can aggregate  talent and intellectual property (think IT professionals, process, tools, analysis and strategy) and provide it as an always available service.  Clients can access the expertise with out the hassle and expense of hiring, training and managing a team / person of their own.

Managed Services are most commonly  characterized by phone based & remote control computer support,  but reactive support should only be one part of a more comprehensive suite of managed services that includes IT strategy and network operations.   For a detailed description of Endsight’s  managed services, click here.

How do Cloud Services and Managed Services relate to one another?

Cloud Services and Managed Services should be employed together to allow a firm to outsource All of the resources (people & computing) required to deliver information technology to its employees.   Regardless of the servers location (on-premise or cloud) the entire computing network must be supported and strategically managed. 

At Endsight, we merge what is being referred to as cloud services into a functional managed services container that we call "plumbing.”   We started calling the server and infrastructure portion of a computer network “plumbing” some time ago because it really helped to simplify the client/server concept.  I think now more than ever the thinking of the server and network infrastructure as plumbing is really a great way to make sense of all the  the options.

For some firms, cloud computing  is an excellent fit because of required features that are only available in the data center. Other firms aren’t as reliant on their computing infrastructure and don’t necessarily require all the redundancy and scalability that the cloud provides. Contrary to the prevailing wisdom, cloud computing or cloud services are not always the low cost approach to providing server infrastructure. But as I mentioned, at Endsight it doesn’t really matter where the servers reside. To us it’s all just plumbing.  Taking an agnostic approach to plumbing allows Endsight to source the best possible solution for each of its clients based on their specific needs.

If you’d like to talk more about the comparison between cloud services and managed services click here and let schedule some time to talk in person.

7 Simple Ways To Keep Your iPad Secure

This is a great list posted by our friends in Florida, Connections for Business.  I liked it so much, that I’ve decided to repost it.  You can find the original post by clicking here.

Don’t leave it lying around Although this is common sense, you’ve probably violated this rule more than once. iPads are easy targets for thieves, so don’t let it out of your sight when in a public place – and don’t leave it in plain view in your car or you might end up with a broken window in addition to a stolen iPad.

Use a passcode Although it’s not 100% hacker-proof, it will block unauthorized users from accessing your information. Consider enabling automatic data erasing You can configure your iPad to erase your data after 10 failed passcode attempts. Clearly this is not a good solution for anyone who constantly forgets a password or those who have kids who might try to endlessly log in to use your iPad.

Sign up for MobileMe This software will allow you to locate a lost iPad and, if it’s not recoverable, you can remotely wipe the device of your private information.

Limit its capabilities You can set your iPad to restrict certain functions such as access to Safari, YouTube, installing applications and explicit media content using a passcode. In the corporate world, an IT administrator could set these restrictions for company owned devices. At home, you can use this to restrict what your children can do with your iPad.

Install software updates As with all software, make sure you have the latest security updates and patches installed to protect against hackers and viruses.

Only connect to trusted WiFi networks Public WiFis are open territory for hackers and identity thieves. Whenever you connect, make sure it’s a legitimate, secure connection.

Survey Results

We’ve included lots of brief surveys in our blog postings.  This is thanks to a technology called Survey Monkey and the development talent of one of our team members, Peter Hornberger.

Peter also took the liberty of summarizing the results from our surveys.  His summaries are below.  You can get to the associated articles by clicking on the summary title.

Microsoft Office vs. Google Apps

In the analysis of our survey results, we found that more than half of our readers are currently using Office 2007 or higher. Also, more than half of our readers are considering a move to Google Apps with reasons of cost, frustration with Microsoft, a preference towards the Google web based experience, the excess of unused Microsoft features, and a feeling that Google Apps is the way of the future.

What to do when Yelp Bites Back 

All of our responders had a knowledge of the business review site Yelp. Of the readers that responded, only 50% have Yelp accounts, but more than half have used Yelp to find products and services. About a third of our respondents have received business due to Yelp and the same number have gotten a bad review on Yelp.

Another Social Media Blog

The results of our Social Media survey showed that Facebook and LinkedIn are the big players in the social media market, with Twitter close behind and other services trailing. All of our respondents have posted status updates or tweeted before and surprisingly, more than half have been recruited via social media outlets. While recruiting through Social Media appears popular, winning business seems much less common, as not one of our respondents has ever won business through Social Media.

When Disaster Strikes

From our survey regarding disaster recovery, we found that all or our readers that responded have written business continuity procedures. The majority of our respondents use off-site servers and data as their business continuity technology and two-thirds feel that they would be well prepared in the event of a disaster.

Cloud Computing: Real Rewards / Real Risks

I logged in one morning and had an email with the headline:

“CUSTOMERS OF MAJOR BANKS AND RETAILERS ARE BEING WARNED OF MASSIVE EMAIL HACK”

“A recent data breach at Epsilon, the world’s largest permission-based email marketing provider, has affected clients of many of the largest banks and retailers in the US including; Capital One, US Bank, Citi, Kroger, Walgreens and Target…just to name a few. These companies have now begun warning customers that their email servers have been breached and that customers’ email addresses and names have been compromised. “ (excerpt)

I am familiar with most of the brands listed above, except of course of Epsilon. Apparently, all of the brands I trusted with my “information” in-turn trusted Epsilon. It must have made good business sense to outsource op- in email. The problem is that Epsilon as it turns out cannot be trusted.

Prior to receiving this email, my wife and I planned to sign up for a new customer loyalty card from one of the affected brands. But not now. I wonder what this mess’s cumulative impact will be on customer loyalty, brand equity and, corporate profits?

Cloud Computing offers a ton of benefits, but as this data breach demonstrates it also exposes you to a ton of risk. I recently sat in on a Webcast that highlighted some strategies for structuring a cloud-computing contract to manage that risk. MSPTV hosted the presentation and it featured David Navatte, and Richard Santalesa of the InfoLawGroup.

I think they did a good job of covering how you can protect yourself from legal issues. But while I was listening, it got me thinking about a recurring conversation I have with business owners about security.

In my opinion, network security is a balancing act that is levered to the two questions, “How much time and money are you willing to devote to keeping a hacker out? And How much time and money is a hacker willing to devote to get in?

The hackers opinion of the asset’s (data, technology, etc.) value is key. If the target is big bank, it is likely the asset is highly valued. If the target is a small business, it may be less valuable.

As such, a reasonable small business security strategy needs to attempt to make its network more of a hassle to breach than its worth. The goal should be to make it easier for the hacker to simply move on to the next less protected network than to hassle with breaching yours.

If I extend this idea to cloud computing an undiagnosed risk emerges. Because of their scale, big clouds like Gmail / Google Apps, provide many features for a low per / user cost. But with every new customer, they become more and more attractive to hacking and other malicious behavior. By comparison, a local cloud provider may cost a little more, but it presents a much less attractive target. That’s if the local provider is on the hacker’s radar at all.

I think that Cloud Computing is maturing, but I still think this concept is in its infancy. As such, the benefits and risks warrant a serious evaluation before any kind of commitment. If you’re considering this technology and would like to leverage Endsight’s experience, click here and let’s schedule some time to meet and talk. Contact Endsight

Internet Bandwidth Options

Reliable, high-bandwidth Internet connectivity used to be a “nice to have”, but this is quickly changing. Traditionally, office based computer users accessed shared computing resources via a local area network (LAN). Internet outages and slowdowns would disrupt web browsing and e-mail but work could continue because a LAN centric computer network didn’t require an Internet connection to provide users access to resources such as file sharing, print sharing and database access. The only people that were completely shut down by a disruption were remote workers.

Over time, businesses have come to rely more and more on their connection to the Internet. That reliance is accelerating with the advent of cloud computing. Broadly, cloud computing is using the Internet to deliver computing services such as e-mail and CRM. I’ve written about cloud computing before, you can read more about the benefits of cloud computing by clicking here.

Over the next few years it’s expected that businesses will migrate their LAN centric computer networks to a cloud-based computing environment. In a cloud-based computing environment every worker is a remote worker that’s completely dependent upon the organization’s Internet connection for access to corporate computing resources. This dependence really elevates the importance of the quality of the Internet connection. In addition to being reliable and fast, the connection really should have some redundancy built into the design.

At Endsight, we’ve been working with our clients to help them plan for this transition as part of our “all-inclusive” outsourced IT support program. Typically, we employ a design that includes hardware from SonicWALL and two Internet connections from competing Internet service providers (ISP)’s.

The hardware design and integration is fairly straightforward but selecting the right mix of ISPs isn’t as easy as it sounds. There are a lot of options each with its own cost / performance tradeoffs. I thought I’d try to summarize the available options. I’ve also linked to Wikipedia descriptions of each option if you’d like more detail.

Telecom options include DSL, T-1, & MPLS connections. Basically, these options leverage the phone company’s (mostly AT&T) telephone infrastructure. These solutions are tried and true and include service level assurances. You can purchase these options from a variety of providers and resellers. If this option makes sense, it’s important to work with a provider that will offer more support than simply providing a 1-800 number.

WiMax or fixed wireless broadband internet is becoming more and more popular. Instead of providing a connection using wires, this option uses fixed wireless antennas that are installed on the roof of a building. These antennas point to other antennas that terminate a connection into the public internet. This option offers high speeds at an economical cost. Its key limitation is that to work the antenna must have a line of site to the terminating point. This can sometimes be a real challenge.

Fiber-optic communication uses pulses of light transmitted through optical fiber. It is extremely fast and when compared to many other options, its cost / throughput is really economical. The main drawback is that the optical fiber required to transmit a signal is kind of scarce. If your business is in a metro area such as San Francisco or Oakland then your building may be “lit” meaning a fiber connection may already be available in your location. If not, then to take advantage of this technology the Telecom Company or ISP will have to deploy optical fiber and that could be prohibitively expensive. To find out if your building is “lit” send me an email and I’ll be glad to put you in contact with a partner that can help you.

Cable internet access uses the same infrastructure that is used to deliver cable television. It also offers high speed / high throughput internet access for an economical cost. As with fiber-optic communication, cable is dependent upon availability. In addition, cable is less reliable then some of the other options out there. This is less of an issue if there is a redundant connection from a Telecom or one of the other providers.

As I said, this is only a summary of some of the options. There is a lot more to this. If you feel like a deeper dive into your options might be helpful, please feel free to connect with us at Endsight. We included IT Strategy and part of our fixed fee outsourced IT service

Good Process is Tasty and Delicious

Image via Wikipedia

I think I was six years old when I ordered my first Big Mac. I’d eaten one before, but this was the first time that I stepped up to the counter on my own to order and pay for one. Waiting in line patiently I mouthed the words as I thought through what I would say. “May I have a Big Mac please?” I wanted to sound like I knew what I was doing.

When it was my turn, I stepped up to the counter. The cashier, who looked like a giant, looked down at me and smiled. Then she turned her gaze to the woman behind me and said, “Welcome to McDonald’s, may I take your order?”

I was devastated. But just as all hope was lost, the nice lady behind me said, “I believe this gentleman was first.” The cashier looked down at me and said, “Excuse me sir, what can I get for you?” …..Victory!

Since then, I’ve ordered thousands (that’s right, thousands) of Big Macs. Every time I do, I feel confident that the sandwich will taste the same as the one I bought 30 years ago.

McDonald’s has a specific process that they follow to prepare a Big Mac. This process is the same in Charlotte, North Carolina as it is in Seattle, Washington. It has been honed over time into a series of steps that is teachable and repeatable. In fact, many McDonald’s employees go to Hamburger University where they learn how to make Big Macs.

When it comes to selecting an outsourced IT partner, process is very important. Most providers say they have a process that they follow, but the word “process” rarely means that they’ve developed a step-by-step series of activities that’s teachable and repeatable. They may have a general idea or approach to clearing trouble tickets, building a server or monitoring a firewall, but their approach is rarely fully documented or integrated into their information systems. The result is that each employee has his or her own way to do the work.

The impact is an inconsistent level of service. Sometimes the client gets good service and sometimes he or she gets really lousy service. This result is often compounded by Murphy’s Law. For some reason, the lousy service experience always occurs when you’re on a deadline.

One way to avoid service level inconsistency is to make sure that your potential outsourced IT partner can show you its process. It’s not enough to show you a bunch of Word documents with bullet points that read, “Promote Windows Server 2008 to Domain Controller.” A well-documented process includes flowcharts, job aids and clear tie-ins to the firm’s information systems. A true process is teachable, repeatable and, because it’s clearly documented, it can be incrementally improved over time.

The ability to incrementally improve a process, assumes that the outsourced IT provider does not outsource its core functions to someone else. Outsourced IT providers that in-turn outsource functions like Network Operations and Help Desk don’t have a lot of control over service delivery. If they don’t have control of the function in the first place they can’t really impact the process. I wrote a blog about outsourced IT providers that in-turn outsource their IT. You can read more by clicking here.

At Endsight, we include a review of our process as part of our site visit. It also includes a tour of our facility, introductions to our staff and a review of a sample strategy document (I’ll write more about documentation and strategy in another blog). If you’re looking for an Outsourced IT partner, we’d really like to host you for a visit. To schedule one, click here.

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• Not all outsourced IT options are the same (bayareaitmanagement.com)

Cloud Computing

There is a lot of noise about cloud computing. It’s fairly new and new is exciting. So what exactly is cloud computing? More importantly, why should a small business owner care?

The cloud is a metaphor used to describe the Internet. Cloud computing is building on that metaphor to describe using the Internet to deliver computing resources as a service. Broadly, cloud computing is the convergence of three technologies: server virtualization, utility computing and software as a service.

1. Virtualization allows software to be separated from physical hardware.This in-turn, allows a single physical server to become 10, 50 or even 100 virtual servers.
2. Utility / grid computing allows server capacity to be accessed across a grid of systems.This in-turn allows computing capacity to increase or decrease depending on user or resource demands.
3. Software as a service allows on-demand software applications via the Internet to be purchased on a predictable monthly subscription basis.

This convergence allows a provider to aggregate many computing resources and profitably deliver those resources as a service for a fixed monthly fee.

The resulting delivery model is highly efficient, but it’s not the key reason for a small business to consider cloud computing. The key reason is best illustrated by looking back a century ago to the emergence of the national electricity grid.

Originally, if a business needed electricity it would have to build and fund the generating capacity on its own. Boilers, turbines and transformers were expensive and so only the largest firms could afford the new technology. The emergence of the grid allowed everyone access to electricity on a subscription basis. All one had to do was plug in. No more expensive capital projects.

In the modern era, mostly because of its size, a small business is inherently forced to either pay for more computer resources than it needs or to suffer with systems that won’t quite do the job. It’s an unwinnable contest that does not balance out.

Cloud computing gives a small business the ability to finally balance that equation by allowing them to pay for only the specific IT resources, service and support they need. Small businesses no longer have to lay out huge amounts of capital for servers, software and staff to build and maintain IT resources such as corporate email, shared files and accounting applications. Instead, they can plug into a computing cloud and access only the resources they need on a fixed fee subscription basis.

As with any new technology, there are a lot of options and providers to consider working with. If cloud computing is an option for your business, moving an on-premise computer network to the cloud needs to be thoroughly planned. For more information about cloud computing click here.

In addition to operating a private computing cloud, Endsight manages more than 100 on-premise computer networks. If you’d like to discuss your current situation and determine the cloud’s applicability to you’re business click here to schedule an in-person meeting.

The Value of Data: What is your data worth to your Organization

In my opinion, the key incite to glean from Pete’s article is that your data is probably worth WAY more than you think. In fact, it is likely the very life blood driving your organization.

Many of Endsight’s clients operate a service business. They count on the intellectual property locked in their email and business applications to meet their customers’ needs. For them, data is the business.

As Pete’s article notes, “The Department of Commerce has determined that 90% of companies which do not have access to data for more than 5 days go out of business within 1 year.”

By itself, that statistic is alarming, but in the Bay Area it’s further exasperated by this one:

On April 15 2008, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that The US Geological Survey believes “A strong and deadly earthquake is virtually certain to strike on one of California’s major seismic faults within the next 30 years”

I’ve reposted Pete’s article below and invite you to consider what kind of impact a “day without computers” might have on your business. If you find the impact as alarming as Pete, contact us and let’s talk about how we can help mitigate that risk.

I’ve embedded a slide deck to a free seminar Endsight has provided about disaster preparedness. If you belong to a professional association or business / community group that might have an interest in the topic, let me know and I’d be happy to present it. If you’d like more information about the presentation, Email me and I’ll send you a topic abstract.